An Exclusive Interview with HEILL

4th May 2016

The brand HEILL was established by its namesake, Mr. Heill Yang, in 2012, following a long career of work with several famous brands including Torrente Couture, Ted Lapidus, Paco Rabanne and Jitrois. He has been in the business for thirty years – working on couture and ready-to-wear with various brands after graduating from ESMOD Paris. The brand HEILL signifies Mr. Yang’s excellence in tailoring and quality, and alongside his daughter, Ines, who joined the design studio team, together, the pair work on the collections. We caught up with HEILL after seeing the brand’s latest collection on the catwalk at Vancouver Fashion Week (VFW).HEILL AW16 at VFW by Kerp PhotographyCongratulations on your autumn/winter 2016 collection. What inspired it? The autumn/winter 2016 collection was inspired by Art Deco motif and the decadence of the 1920's. The main colours were inspired by Tamara de Lempicka's paintings and the main palette is composed of red, blue, grey and black.Coming from Paris, what made you choose VFW as the platform to show your collection? We decided to show our collection in Vancouver because it's one of the main fashion weeks in North America, just after New York with more than a hundred shows a week. Vancouver attracted us because it is a wonderful platform to advertise the brand in North America and also in the UK as many press attend VFW.HEILL AW16 at VFW by Kerp PhotographyWhere else have you shown your collections and how does VFW standout? We have shown our collections in China, in India, in the Philippines and in Korea. VFW differs by the presence of very interesting press and buyers. The crowd is also very enthusiastic.

On the runway, you had male and female models in your suiting. Is it meant to be genderless, or was that just for the sake of show? We do womenswear and also menswear. We would like to convey that we can dress both men and women in excellent tailored clothing. In all of our shows we are showing suiting that is a little bit sexy and very ‘près du corps’ for women to enhance the body and a dandy style for men.HEILL AW16 at VFW by Kerp PhotographyWhich celebrities have you dressed? We have dressed a famous Korean MC named Shin Dongyeop, then also several K-pop idols for red carpets.Who would be your dream person to dress and for what event? We would like to dress Leonardo DiCaprio or the current or the next ‘James Bond’ for the movie or the red carpet.HEILL AW16 at VFW by Kerp PhotographyYou have had a very seasoned career working in Paris and Korea. What have been some of your standout moments? Each fashion show is a standout moment and to work in the couture studio in Paris was also an amazing experience.

What’s next for HEILL? We are doing the main fashion show for the Asia Model Awards on May 21st and we are also receiving an award from the Minister of Culture in Korea during this event. We hope also to show again at VFW in September. We also want to expand our brand in different Asian and Occidental countries.

HEILL’s shoes will be available to purchase online soon, and if you’re interested in making a special order of the ready-to-wear collection, email HEILL here.